Digital infrastructure company Equinix has announced plans to enter the South African market with a US$160 million data centre investment in Johannesburg, which, the company points out, augments its current footprint on the African continent in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. The new data centre is expected to open mid-2024.
The 4.0 MW data centre, JN1, will provide more than 690 cabinets and over 20,000 gross square feet of colocation space. Two additional phases of development are planned. The fully completed 20.0 MW premium retail campus will provide more than 3,450 cabinets and over 100,000 gross square feet of colocation space.
Equinix points out that South Africa is already a strategically important connectivity hub for digital networks, with a significant network of submarine communications cables (see also today’s 2Africa story).
Equinix entered the African continent earlier this year with the acquisition of MainOne, the leading West African data centre and connectivity solutions provider with a presence in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.
Eugene Bergen, President, EMEA, Equinix says: “This investment will give both South African businesses the opportunity to expand internationally and global businesses to expand into South Africa. Both will be able to accelerate their growth by rapidly scaling their infrastructure, easily adopting hybrid multicloud architectures and interconnecting with business partners through the Platform Equinix ecosystem of more than 10,000 customers.”
Equinix says it is seeking out sustainable and reliable sources of energy for this new data centre. This new facility is expected to feature many unique sustainable attributes including hyper-efficient cooling with outside air economization using minimal water, allowing the company to limit its carbon footprint and maintain energy-efficient operations.